City, local school districts try to fight teen pregnancy issue

Updated 9:01 am, Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Photo: William Luther, San Antonio Express-News

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A handful of teenagers involved in advocating against teen pregnancy have their picture taken Wednesday April 2, 2012 at a news conference announcing new data on Texas and Bexar County teen birth rates during National Day to Prevent Teen Pregnancy with Joaquin and Julian Castro. (William Luther/wluther@express-news.net)

A handful of teenagers involved in advocating against teen pregnancy have their picture taken Wednesday April 2, 2012 at a news conference announcing new data on Texas and Bexar County teen birth rates during

Like Texas and the rest of the nation, Bexar County has seen a significant drop in the number of teen births since the mid-1990s.

Still, last year, almost 3,000 Bexar County teens 19 and younger had babies. And the rate of teen births in Bexar County in 2010 was almost 50 percent higher than the national average.

Elected officials, city leaders and those who work in local teen pregnancy prevention efforts came together May 2 to discuss the latest numbers — and to forge a greater commitment to further reduce the number of teens having babies.

“A lot of progress has been made in the last couple of years,” said Mayor Julián Castro, addressing a group of more than 100 gathered at the Central Library. “But we still have a lot of work to do. We know teens that have babies are less likely to finish school, to realize their dreams, to enjoy prosperity. And the next generation is less likely to enjoy prosperity.”

Castro said the number of teen births in the county has already dropped below the goal set in SA2020, the city's blueprint for the future, but that the rate is still too high.

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He said a new position was recently created at Project Worth, the city's teen pregnancy prevention program, as part of his office's efforts to bring the numbers down.

Project Worth provides “evidence-based” sex education (proved to have changed teen behavior) in some area schools, as well as workshops for parents, in conjunction with Health Futures of Texas, a separate nonprofit that seeks to reduce teen and unplanned pregnancy.

State Sen. Jeff Wentworth noted the cost of a high teen birth rate to Texas. Teen pregnancy “costs the state $1.2 billion in taxpayer dollars a year,” he said. “We need effective programs in schools, because education is the key to success and the way to escape poverty. This issue is critically important, not only for San Antonio but for all of Texas.”

Teens who have babies — including teens who father babies — are more likely to drop out of school and end up on public assistance, studies show.

“Teen pregnancy has a tremendous impact on teens coming into the criminal justice system,” District Attorney Susan Reed said. “We know it creates a lot of stressors for individuals and leads to things like child abuse and domestic violence.”

Parts of South San Antonio — including the Harlandale, South San and Southside high school areas — have teen pregnancy rates far high than the national average, according to a recent study. The city, county and other health agencies have begun aggressive campaigns to help prevent teen pregnancy.

“The Southside is a very unique part of San Antonio, in some parts it is almost completely Latino,” Plastino said.

The Sex Education Program includes students fifth through 12th grades at Harlandale, Southside, South San Antonio and Somerset and Southwest school districts.

Plastino said the program has five steps: use evidence-based programs to change teens behaviors; link into clinical and preventative services; educating stakeholders and cultural sustainability.

“What we did with our program is reach out to the community, using focus groups,” Plastino said. “This program is something that is being driven by the community, they really wants this program to be a success.”

Cervantes, a senior at Harlandale High School, said the program discusses awareness of sexually transmitted diseases, incidents of teens having more than one baby, as well as the effects of teen pregnancies on entire families.

“A lot teens think that once they get pregnant, there's nothing they can do, but there are still ways to make the situation better for families,” Cervantes said. “We don't want them to feel abandoned.”

Ruggiero, a sophomore at Harlandale High School, said some of her best friends have already become pregnant.

“We have to get our community active, get the word out there on ways to prevent teen pregnancy, and the effect it has,” Ruggiero said.

“A lot of teen mothers end up dropping out of school, they can end up doing things that affect the rest of their life.”

Dr. Thomas Schlenker, Metropolitan Health District director, said there were 300 fewer births to teens from 2010 to 2011.

“That is a reduction that's very significant,” he said.

“A dark cloud still hangs over our community, but there is a silver lining, and it's that the rates have been improving. We know what works, and we will win this battle.”

This article originally appeared in the May 3 San Antonio Express-News. Southside Reporter Managing Editor Noi Mahoney contributed to this report.